Tour de Ski dominator Sergey Ustiugov triumphates at Alpe Cermis

Sergey Ustiugov (RUS, Fischer skis and boots) celebrated his first ever overall win in Tour de Ski. The Russian was able to keep Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR, Fischer skis and boots) behind. Dario Cologna (SUI, Fischer skis and boots) finished third. Stina Nilsson (SWE, Fischer) was ranked third after seven exciting stages of Tour de Ski which was won by Heidi Weng (NOR) for the first time.

Stina Nilsson started with 20 seconds advantage against Heidi Weng into the final stage to Alpe Cermis with nine kilometres distance. But the main problem is the Final Climb: 420 difference in altitude during 3650 metres with three very steep ramps. Stina Nilsson had to ski her own pace from the start and was caught up at the beginning of the climb. The Swede wasn't able to follow the Norwegian and was also caught by Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) later. Nevertheless is her podium result a big success for the former sprint-specialist. "The Final Climb was as hard as I expected. It was no surprise for me Heidi caught in the bottom of the hill. She was too fast for me to follow. My main goal was to stay focused on my pace. When Krista passed me I had to fight hard for third place", she said. Anne Kyllönen (FIN, Fischer skis and boots) came in seventh followed by Nathalie von Siebenthal (SUI, Fischer skis and boots) and Teresa Stadlober (AUT, Fischer skis and boots). The Swiss as well as the Austrian both took the lead in their groups in the flat parts before the climb. While Nathalie von Siebenthal had some problems to keep the group in the uphill, Teresa Stadlober showed a very strong performance and moved up from twelve to nine. Tenth went to Yulia Tchekaleva (RUS, Fischer skis and boots).

Sergey Ustiugov started 1:11 minutes ahead and his tactic was to start out very fast to extend his lead in the flat passage.This plan didn't work because Martin Johnsrud Sundby was also very fast. In the climb the Norwegian was able to shorten the gap a bit but during the last kilometres his disadvantage became bigger again. Sergey Ustiugov wins after an amazing performance during the last days of Tour de Ski with 1:02 minutes gap against the Norwegian. For third spot it was a hard fight between several athletes. Dario Cologna and a group of three with Heikkinen (FIN), Manificat (FRA) and Harvey (CAN) started out very fast and regained seconds. Dario Cologna was able to counter an attack of the Frenchman for third place shortly before the finish. Marcus Hellner (SWE, Fischer) captured sixth place after overtaking the Canadian. Niklas Dyrhaug (NOR, Fischer) finished tenth.